OPRA Government Records Request - New Jersey

NEW JERSEY OPEN PUBLIC RECORDS ACT REQUEST

Submission note: Use the public agency's adopted Government Records Council request form or electronic portal when available. This document may be attached as the records-description supplement. Complete the agency form's required certifications concerning commercial purpose, data-broker use, and related legal proceedings.

1. Request Information

Date: [__/__/____]

To — Custodian of Government Records

Agency: [________________________________]

Department or division: [________________________________]

Custodian: [________________________________]

Address: [________________________________]

Email or portal: [________________________________]

From — Requestor

Name: [________________________________]

Organization, if any: [________________________________]

Address: [________________________________]

Email: [________________________________]

Telephone: [________________________________]

2. Required Certifications

Commercial purpose

☐ I certify that neither I nor another person will use the requested records for a commercial purpose.

☐ I certify that I or another person will use the requested records for a commercial purpose.

If commercial, describe the intended use and identify the person or entity for whose use the records are requested:

[________________________________]

For this certification, OPRA defines a commercial purpose as the direct or indirect use of any part of a government record for sale, resale, solicitation, rent, lease of a service, or a use through which the user expects profit by commission, salary, or fee. N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1 excludes specified news, journalistic, educational, scientific, scholarly, governmental, political, labor, and qualifying nonprofit uses from that definition.

Data broker

☐ I certify that I am not a data broker and am not making this request on behalf of or for the use of a data broker.

OPRA directs custodians to deny requests made by a data broker or on behalf of and for the use of a data broker, and provides that data obtained through a records request shall not be sold. N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(f).

Related legal proceeding

☐ The requested records are not being sought in connection with a legal proceeding.

☐ The requested records are being sought in connection with the following legal proceeding:

Case name, court or tribunal, and docket number: [________________________________]

Identify any court order or pending discovery request covering the requested records:

[________________________________]

N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g) requires this certification and identification. A party to a legal proceeding may not use OPRA to request a record that is the subject of a court order, including a pending discovery request, subject to the statute's labor-related exception.

3. Records Requested

I request access to the following government records under OPRA, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. Each item identifies the record type, custodian or account when known, subject matter, and a specific and limited date range.

Record 1

Record type or title: [________________________________]

Date or limited date range: [________________________________]

Office, employee, job title, or account: [________________________________]

Subject matter and other identifying details: [________________________________]

Record 2

Record type or title: [________________________________]

Date or limited date range: [________________________________]

Office, employee, job title, or account: [________________________________]

Subject matter and other identifying details: [________________________________]

Record 3

Record type or title: [________________________________]

Date or limited date range: [________________________________]

Office, employee, job title, or account: [________________________________]

Subject matter and other identifying details: [________________________________]

Additional description or exclusions

[________________________________]

For a request covering mail, email, text messages, correspondence, or social-media material, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g) permits the custodian to require a specific job title or accounts to search, a specific subject matter, and a specific and limited time period.

4. Access and Format

I request:

☐ Inspection during the agency's regular access hours

☐ Electronic copies by email

☐ Electronic copies through a download link or portal

☐ Paper copies

☐ Other: [________________________________]

Requested medium or file format: [________________________________]

N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(d) requires access and a copy in the requested medium or format when the agency maintains the record that way. If it does not, conversion is within the custodian's discretion when the agency has the technical ability to convert it.

If a responsive record is already available online, please provide the URL and directions sufficient to locate it.

5. Immediate-Access Records

☐ This request includes one or more current budgets, bills, vouchers, contracts (including collective-negotiations agreements or individual employment contracts), or public-employee salary or overtime records.

For those categories, I request the immediate access ordinarily required by N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(e). The statute does not require immediate access for documents more than 24 months old.

6. Fees

☐ I authorize charges up to $[____].

☐ Before incurring any charge, please provide an itemized estimate.

☐ I prefer inspection and will identify any pages to be copied after inspection.

Unless another law or regulation sets a different fee, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(b) sets duplication fees at $0.05 per letter-size page or smaller and $0.07 per legal-size page or larger. Access to electronic records and non-printed materials is free, although the agency may charge the actual cost of needed supplies. No duplication fee is charged when the request is completed by directing the requestor to a government record available on a public-agency website.

If the request requires an extraordinary expenditure of time and effort or cannot be reproduced using ordinary copying equipment, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(c) permits a special service charge based on the actual direct cost. Please give me an opportunity to review and object to any fee before it is incurred. A custodian may require a deposit when anticipated reproduction costs exceed $5. N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(f).

7. Response and Redaction

Please grant access or provide a written response as soon as possible. For a currently available record that is not in storage or archived, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(i) generally requires a grant or denial no later than seven business days after receipt. The statute provides a 14-business-day period for a commercial-purpose request or a request requiring review for compliance with P.L. 2021, c.371, with notice of the additional time within seven business days. Other statutory timing rules may apply to particular agencies, stored or archived records, emergencies, or valid extensions.

If access is denied in whole or part, please:

1. Identify the specific basis for the denial on the request form;
2. Sign and date the response and provide me a copy;
3. Redact only the portion asserted to be exempt and provide access to the remainder; and
4. State when any non-immediately available record is expected to be available.

8. Signature

I certify that the information and selections in this request are accurate to the best of my knowledge.

Signature: [________________________________]

Printed name: [________________________________]

Date: [__/__/____]

9. Delivery Record

Submitted on: [__/__/____]

☐ Agency form or portal

☐ Email

☐ Hand delivery

☐ Mail

☐ Fax

Submission address, email, portal, or confirmation number: [________________________________]

Official Sources

• P.L. 2024, c.16 — enacted OPRA amendments
• New Jersey Government Records Council

This template is a request-drafting aid. It is not a substitute for the public agency's adopted OPRA form, current portal instructions, or legal advice.